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Monday, September 08, 2008, 10:22
Britain has an enviable record in Paralympic equestrian events and is the only nation to ever win team gold since the sport made its Games debut in Atlanta 12 years ago.
Pearson, aged 34, is looking for a hat-trick of gold medal hat-tricks in Beijing, having swept the board in both Sydney and Athens.
He produced a solid first test on gelding Gentleman to comfortably win his class with a 73.794 per cent score – which helped put Britain in a commanding position.
"It could have gone better, but that is the perfectionist side of me," said Pearson, who has a condition called arthrogryposis, which inhibits the development of his muscles.
"It nearly went bad because I don't think he (Gentleman) liked the audience very much and he started to get a little bit argumentative.
"But he's a young horse and I can't have any complaints.
"I've done my job and posted a good score, which puts some added pressure on my team-mates to perform."
Pearson is set to return to action in today's freestyle test – where horse and rider put their own routine to music.
"It's a more powerful test and will show some razzmatazz," added Pearson.
However, Britain will face tough opposition from Denmark and Germany if they are to defend their title when the team dressage concludes tomorrow
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